London: Germany expressed disbelief after Russia defended its 1939 invasion of Poland, asserting that it was intended to protect Ukrainian and Belarusian populations rather than being an act of aggression.
On September 17, marking the 85th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s joint invasion of Poland with Nazi Germany, Russia’s foreign ministry released a video on social media claiming the Soviet Union acted to prevent the “genocide” of Ukrainians and Belarusians in Poland’s eastern regions.
“On September 17, 1939, the Red Army launched a military operation in Poland’s eastern regions, preventing the genocide of the population of Western Belarus and Western Ukraine,” the foreign ministry stated on X, formerly known as Twitter. The post further argued that the invasion was necessary to stop Nazi Germany from controlling Poland entirely, which would have weakened the Soviet Union’s strategic position. Russia’s foreign ministry maintained that characterizing the Soviet Union as the aggressor in the invasion was “at odds with historical truth.”
Germany’s foreign ministry responded succinctly with a one-word post: “Seriously?” They also shared a map signed by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and Nazi Germany’s Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, depicting the planned division of Poland under the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. This was accompanied by the hashtags “#MolotovRibbentropPact” and “#HitlerStalinPact.” The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, a secret agreement between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, divided Poland into zones of control for both powers, setting the stage for the start of World War II, as reported by Politico.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin has frequently promoted controversial historical narratives to justify Moscow’s past and present actions, including the ongoing invasion of Ukraine that began in 2014. In a recent interview with American pundit Tucker Carlson, Putin controversially claimed that Poland was responsible for Nazi Germany’s invasion, a statement that elicited a sharp rebuke from the Polish foreign ministry.
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Germany’s latest response highlights the ongoing tensions surrounding historical interpretation, particularly in light of Russia’s current conflict with Ukraine.
